Joe M. Sprinkle, Biblical
Law and Its Relevance: A Christian Understanding and Ethical Application for
Today of the Mosaic Regulations. University Press of America, 2005. Pbk.
ISBN: 0761833722. pp.252.{Amazon.com} This book approaches the laws of the Pentateuch from theological, historical,
moral, and spiritual perspectives. Theologically, this book raises a question
of hermeneutics: What are Christians to make of the law? Biblical Law and Its
Relevance, while taking into consideration the approaches of Reformed,
Dispensationalist, Lutheran, and Theonomist scholars, proposes a distinctive
hermeneutic of seeking to find the abiding moral and religious principles
inherent in the laws. In pursuing this goal, this book employs a
comparative-legal methodology that examines biblical laws in their ancient Near
Eastern historical setting and in comparison with rabbinic, modern, and
especially cuneiform laws. It seeks to determine the original significance of
the lex talionis formula ("eye for an eye") and the rules of clean / unclean.
It also surveys how the laws were administered from the time of Joshua to the
end of the Old Testament period.